Computer games gained considerable popularity as one of the major forms of entertainment, particularly for children and teenagers. Computer games are also increasingly used as an educational aid. In such games, a user has to perform a certain task within a virtual environment based on certain game-specific roles. For example, the user has to maneuver a figure through a maze, “destroy” the “bad guys”, overcome obstacles, etc., all of course within the virtual environment.
The user controls the game through a user interface which may be the keyboard or the “mouse” of the computer, or may be a game-dedicated interface such as a joystick, a pointer, etc.
In most computer games, the virtual environment is an imaginary environment generated by the computer, although some computer games make use of a virtual environment based on or derived from a real-life environment.